Initial Setup
If you have not used Auctria for an event before you will need to start by signing up for an account.
Organization Setup
All auctions/events in Auctria belong to an Organization.
When setting up your account, you were prompted for some details about your Organization.
You can review or change this information under the main Auction Dashboard menu using the Organization link. See Organization Details for more information on this.
INFORMATION
Your email address can be associated with multiple Organizations providing the opportunity of Switching Organizations as needed.
IMPORTANT
You will receive an email at the address you provided which will need to be confirmed to completely set up your new organization/email address account.
∞ Details
∞ Switching Organizations
∞ Auction Dashboard
Auction Setup
Auctions are created within an Organization; and, each Organization can have multiple auctions/events associated with it.
Some basic details about your auction/event would have been entered when you were filling in your initial account information during the setup such as the Auction name. You can update these details by following the Auction link in the main Auction Dashboard menu.
An example taken from a demonstration event.
Also see Auction Details and Auction Permissions for more in-depth information.
∞ Auction Dashboard∞ Auction
∞ Auction Details
∞ Auction Permissions
Users
Users are individuals with access to the administration side of your auction and may help add items, register bidders, record bids, run checkout, etc. If you need to add Users to help with organizing your event you would use the Adding Users functions and set their appropriate User Permissions.
The number of User Accounts is limited by the current subscription plan. Please visit our Auctria Online Store website page for more information on plan features.
We recommend having/creating an Administrator User Account that is readily accessible by the "Organization" in case the current "administrator(s)" move on to other projects. This is not a requirement although it does help to future-proof the organization and access to its management functions.
∞ User Permissions
Items
Items are crucial to all events in Auctria and one of the first tasks is to Add Items you will be offering your guests at the auction, or for sale from the Auction Website.
∞ Add New ItemWhen you create items, you must set the item to be one of the Auctria Item Types. The default will be to use the Online item type.
The Item Types are pre-set by Auctria with specific functionality assigned to each type. Before you set up your items, it is best to understand the different items types.
NOTE
The item type can be changed at any time. This may change how Auctria handles the item. Please remember to double-check the item is behaving as expected if you do change its type. Please read more on Item Types for more information on this.
Recommended Reading
- The Introduction To Items page provides helpful information about Items and their Types in Auctria.
- Review Item Types for more information on how these affects Items.
Auction Event Website
In today's digital world, having a website for an event is just a matter of course. Auctria provides the tools for you to quickly and easily generate a website for your auction and once you settle on your items the next step should be getting your website published and start letting your potential donors, bidders, and sponsors know about your event.
Have a look at the How To Create A New Auction Website walkthrough to start the ball rolling.
Additional "Initial Setup" Steps
Setting up the Organization and Auction as well as settling on items and publishing a website are essentially all you need to really get started although there are still many features Auctria offers to make your event that much better for you as well as your guests.
Credit card processing integration (optional)
Auctria offers Credit Card processing integration with a recommendation for using Stripe.com. For more details on this (as well as details for using Authorize.Net), please read our Credit Cards main section of the User Guide and especially the page about Connecting A Stripe Account.
∞ Concepts - Credit Cards∞ Credit Cards (main)
∞ Connecting A Stripe Account
Add More Checkout Payment Options (optional)
Another thing to consider when setting up the Organization and Auction is how will bidder, donors, and sponsors being "paying" for their contributions. In some cases, the default Cash, Check, and Other options may not be enough. If you think this might be your case, too, have a look at the Checkout Payment Options page for more details.
Text Messages (optional)
Almost everyone has a mobile device, and most of those guests will understand and often use Text Messages. Auctria provides an option to allow you to give this to your bidders. Aside from our free Mobile App, bidders would have the opportunity to just text in their bids, registration, donations, etc.
The Text Messages feature set is included with Emerald and Diamond subscription plans. To start, begin with Texting Set Up - Assign Phone Number.
More Reading
Learn more about the commands currently available under Text Commands in our Text Messages section of our User Guide.
Checklists
Feel free to view and use our checklists we reference in the article Auctria Timeline & Checklist.
Last reviewed: March 2023